Benefits of communication skills training after real patient exposure

The established communication skills training (CST) curriculum consists of continuous education, frequent practice with real patients, supervision and feedback from medical teachers. The limitation of this curriculum is that students have to directly apply the theoretical basis they are provided with to real patients. To improve the existing CST curriculum a CST module involving simulated patients was introduced in order to develop more complex communication skills.

A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy

Background Through this paper, we present the initial steps for the creation of an integrated platform for the provision of a series of eHealth tools and services to both citizens and travelers in isolated areas of thesoutheast Mediterranean, and on board ships travelling across it. The platform was created through an INTERREG IIIB ARCHIMED project called INTERMED. Methods The support of primary healthcare, home care and the continuous education of physicians are the three major issues that the proposed platform is trying to facilitate. The proposed system is based on state-of-the-art telemedicine systems and is able to provide the following healthcare services: i) Telecollaboration and teleconsultation services between remotely located healthcare providers, ii) telemedicine services in emergencies, iii) home telecare services for "at risk" citizens such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, and iv) eLearning services for the continuous training through seminars of both healthcare personnel (physicians, nurses etc) and persons supporting "at risk" citizens. These systems support data transmission over simple phone lines, internet connections, integrated services digital network/digital subscriber lines, satellite links, mobile networks (GPRS/3G), and wireless local area networks. The data corresponds, among others, to voice, vital biosignals, still medical images, video, and data used by eLearning applications. The proposed platform comprises several systems, each supporting different services. These were integrated using a common data storage and exchange scheme in order to achieve system interoperability in terms of software, language and national characteristics. Results The platform has been installed and evaluated in different rural and urban sites in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. The evaluation was mainly related to technical issues and user satisfaction. The selected sites are, among others, rural health centers, ambulances, homes of "at-risk" citizens, and a ferry. Conclusions The results proved the functionality and utilization of the platform in various rural places in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. However, further actions are needed to enable the local healthcare systems and the different population groups to be familiarized with, and use in their everyday lives, mature technological solutions for the provision of healthcare services.

The Internet and the oral healthcare professionals: potential and challenges of a new era

The Internet is increasingly used as a means of continuous education for healthcare practitioners. At the same time, a rapidly growing number of patients rely on the Internet for the search and acquisition of healthcare-related information and services. This fact has introduced new challenges for the oral healthcare personnel, which must not only often face the misperceptions of ill-informed patients but also be able to redirect them to quality sources of healthcare-related information. Consequently, there is a great need for the whole oral healthcare team to further understand the potential and dangers of Internet-based information. The present paper aimed to briefly discuss the major implications of Internet use from two distinct points of view: (a) potential and risks of Internet use for lifelong learning and quality assessment of the oral healthcare team and (b) potential and dangers from the Internet as a means of patients' education. (1) generic Internet search; (2) search within healthcare-related databases; and (3) principles quality assessment of information and resources.

Quality of life and coping behaviour in Type 1 diabetes mellitus: relationship with metabolic control

Uncovering factors possibly leading to insufficient metabolic control in Type 1 diabetes, both on the part of the patient or the treating physician, is of considerable relevance. The present long-term study investigated the relevance of patient-related vs education-related factors for the success in achieving acceptable glycaemic control. Adolescents or young adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (n= 26, mean age= 22+/-2 yr, diabetes duration= 11+/-5 yr) were followed during 36+/-5 months. All patients were treated by the same diabetologist. At the beginning of the study coping behaviour, quality of life and evaluation of emotional status were assessed. Changes in HbA1c were used as a parameter of glycaemic control. At follow-up there was a significant decrease in HbA1c of 0.4% (p<0.01). However, this was not in statistically significant correlation with age, gender, aspects of quality of life or coping behaviour. Therefore, glycaemic control and/or improvement of glycaemic control in adolescents or young adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus seems to be primarily related to other factors, eg continuous education provided in a stable setting.

Beyond questionnaires – Exploring adult education teachers' mathematical beliefs with pictures and interviews

Because of the impact that mathematical beliefs have on an individual’s behaviour, they are generally well researched. However, little mathematical belief research has taken place in the field of adult education. This paper presents preliminary results from a study conducted in this field in Switzerland. It is based on Ernest’s (1989) description of mathematics as an instrumental, Platonist or problem solving construct. The analysis uses pictures drawn by the participants and interviews conducted with them as data. Using a categorising scheme developed by Rolka and Halverscheid (2011), the author argues that adults’ mathematical beliefs are complex and especially personal aspects are difficult to capture with said scheme. Particularly the analysis of visual data requires a more refined method of analysis.